Form cooperatives to benefit from govt assistance: Prez advises farmers, fishermen
President John Dramani Mahama has advised farmers to form cooperatives to enable the government to reach them with inputs and other forms of support.
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He said one of the major obstacles to food production in the country was the inability of farmers to organise themselves into associations and co-operatives and underlined the fact that it was very difficult to reach farmers with support when they operated individually.
Inaugurating the Kworli Area Farmers and Fishers Association (KAFAFA) at Kworli in the Zabzugu District in the Northern Region on Saturday, the President said, “If you see every country that has progressed in agriculture, it is because the farmers have formed farmer-based associations which make it easier for the government to reach the farmers with the appropriate inputs and other support in order to improve production.”
“So when I heard that this association comprises about 35,000 members, I said ‘this is the kind of thing I want to see in this country and I must come here and support it’.
“The government is going to give all the necessary assistance to the association and I know it is going to grow to achieve more for the country,” Mr Mahama said.
KAFAFA
KAFAFA was formed about two years ago through the instrumentality of the Gbligilana, Alhaji Dawuda Mohammed, who is also the life patron of the association.
About 10,000 of the membership are women.
The association, which is present in 52 communities across three districts, namely, Zabzugu, Tatale and Nanumba South, seeks to bring together farmers and fishers to advance their activities.
The farmers produce maize, yams, sorghum, among other produce.
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Growing what we eat
President Mahama made reference to the emphasis he placed on “growing what we eat” during his State of the Nation and his Independence Day addresses, insisting that it was unacceptable for Ghana to spend about US$4.2 billion every year to import food.
He maintained that agriculture was still the priority of the government and the country “because we must achieve food security”.
President Mahama expressed delight at the fact that the association was non-political and that membership cut across ethnic barriers and urged all farmers and fishers in the region to join the group.
Peace
President Mahama called for peace in the northern part of the country, since that was one major ingredient for development to take place.
He gave an assurance that the government was talking to the sides in the Dagbon conflict, saying, ”We are making progress and very soon you will all see a final solution to the conflict.”
Infrastructure
Touching on development in the area, President Mahama said this year the collapsed Morla Bridge, as well as the bridge on the Kyikyahe Crossing, would be replaced with steel bridges.
He also said the government had paid the counterpart funding for the Kworli electrification project and so the contractor had no cause to delay the project.
A contractor who had been awarded the Otidamanko-Nakpanduri road project, which formed part of the Eastern Corridor, was mobilising to start work, he further stated.
On completion, the road is expected to be a first-class road that will open up that part of the country and also make it easier to transport agricultural produce to the markets in the south.
Strides
Mr Mahama said it was inappropriate for some people to keep complaining that Ghana was a hellhole.
“Ghana is not a hellhole but a paradise,” he said.
Today, he said, apart from South Africa, Ghana had the largest coverage in terms of electricity in sub-Saharan Africa.
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This year, he said, 900 communities in the country would be connected to the national electricity grid, out of which 15 would be in the Zabzugu District.
Alhaji Dawuda, in a welcoming address, commended President Mahama for the tremendous work he and his government were doing in the rural areas but called for more support for farmers and the fishing community.